Gurdwara Sri Manji Sahib Alamgir

Location - Alamgir Road, Alamgir, Ludhiana, Punjab, India

Associated with - Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji

Sikh Artifacts - None

Sarovar - Yes

Sarai - Yes

Gurdwara Sri Manji Sahib Alamgir in Ludhiana District's Alamgir village reflects yet another landmark in the life of Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji.

Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji was pursued by the mughal army and it was at the site where this Gurdwara now stands, where Guru Gobind Singh stopped to rest for 3 days, blessing it with his presence.

History

Following the siege of Anandpur Sahib, Guru Gobind Singh, after evading the mughal and rajput attackers at Chamkaur, came to Machhiwara.

It was then that two Pathan brothers, Ghani Khan and Nabi Khan, even at the prospect of facing certain death, helped Guru Gobind Singh to escape from the pursuing mughal army.

At Machhiwara Guru Gobind Singh donned the blue robes of a Sufi pretending to be the Pir of Uch. Guru Gobind Singh loosened his hair and, accompanied by the Pathan brothers and three Sikhs, was carried in a palanquin with a Sikh waving a chanwar over the Guru's head as they passed safely through enemy lines.

On reaching Alamgir Guru Gobind Singh asked an old lady who was moving cow dung whether he could get water from somewhere to take bath. The old lady replied, 'Pir Ji, this is a place of ruins, there is no water here. There is a well far away but there is a big python that lives there and no one goes there.'

Tirsar

Guru Gobind Singh hit the python with an arrow and liberated it. The python fell into the well and when the Sikhs went to fetch water, the water had become contaminated. Near to where Guru Gobind Singh was sitting, Guru Sahib shot an arrow into the ground where a spring of drinking water bubbled forth.

On seeing this miracle, the old lady fell into Guru Gobind Singh's feet and said, 'Pir Ji, I have a request. I have leprosy and nothing can treat it. Please can you help cure my disease?' Guru Gobind Singh asked the lady to bathe using the water from the water spring. The old lady was soon cured and returned to the village nearby where she told the villagers what happened. Today this spring has been converted into a sarovar known as Tirsar, (Arrow Lake).

Guru Gobind Singh discarded his disguise at Alamgir and received a horse which was presented to him by one of the horse traders of the village named Bhai Nigahia Singh, a resident of Alamgir.

As a Manji or palanquin had been used to bring the disguised Guru to Alamgir, as the 'Pir of Uch', the Gurdwara was called Manji Sahib. The original palanquin has been preserved here, in the Bhora Sahib, to this day.

The langar or community meal at Gurdwara Sri Manji Sahib Alamgir is said to be one of the biggest among Sikh Gurdwaras, catering to hundreds of people, free of cost, every day in the spirit of charity to mankind. Generations on, Gurdwara Sri Manji Sahib Alamgir is in itself a picture of Sikhism in its ideal glory.